The use of endoscopes is well known in medical technology. Endoscopes, essentially configured along a longitudinal direction, are introduced into the human body in order to conduct operations there. Colonoscopes are endoscopes that are used in the intestinal area. The endoscopes in this case, according to the state of the art, have appropriate illuminating and photographic elements in order to be able to report on and monitor sites in the body that are to be treated. Furthermore these known endoscopes have canals, which can be used for irrigating or for inserting tools. Particularly in simple endoscopes, the canals extend to the distal end of the endoscope, which usually is designated as the head. There the canals emerge, preferably on the front side, that is, in the endoscope's longitudinal direction, so that a tool, in particular, that is inserted in the longitudinal direction through a working canal can be pushed out of the head on the front side.
A working canal, through which a tool can be pushed, provides an appropriate guide for the tool in order to be able, with a certain control, to push it out of the head and to insert it there. The disadvantage of this type of endoscopes known in the art is that, as a result of the controlled guidance, only a limited area beyond the front side of the endoscope head can be reached by the tool. It is difficult in particular to move the tool into an area lying to the sides of the longitudinal axis. At a certain distance from a site that is to be worked on (for instance a polyp on the inner wall of the intestine), this site can be surveyed by the “forward looking” optical unit. However, the tool either cannot be moved at all, or can be moved only imprecisely, from the longitudinal direction of the endoscope to the intestinal wall. The area covered by the lens and the area to be worked on are often not identical. The area of application is thereby restricted.
It is therefore the object of the invention to create an endoscope with which various tools can be inserted well in variable spaces simultaneously.
This object is fulfilled through an endoscope according to Claim 1.